


come a long way

by astralis



Category: Bruno and Boots (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 06:17:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13140819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralis/pseuds/astralis
Summary: Cathy Burton is about to become the Prime Minister of Canada.





	come a long way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Marks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marks/gifts).



“I’m going to be the Prime Minister tomorrow.”

“It’s tomorrow _now_.” There were times when it was worth reminding Cathy that normal people _slept_ at three in the morning, and times when it wasn’t. And this, Diane’s pretty sure, is one of those times. Cathy's never been like normal people and she's definitely not about to start now.

Besides, Diane hasn’t exactly been sleeping either. If she’s got butterflies in her stomach ten times worse than those she felt at any of her university exams or the worst disasters of her high school years she can only imagine what’s going on for Cathy. And so she rolls over to find her wife facing her, and staring, wide-eyed and almost blank. Diane touches her cheek. “You okay?”

Cathy shakes her head a fraction. “I’m going to be the Prime Minister today.”

“I know.”

“I didn’t think it would happen. Not yet. Maybe next election, maybe never. I don’t - I mean, it doesn’t matter if I’m not ready. I have to be ready.”

Diane hadn't expected it either, but then she hadn't expected Cathy to channel her enthusiasm into activism over pranks from the day they moved into their college at U of T, and she hadn't expected Cathy to become party leader as young as she did, and, like Cathy, she hadn't expected the election to go as it had. They'd both expressed outward confidence to the media, of _course_ they believed things would go their way because wasn't Canada definitely ready for change? But Diane had felt herself walking the line of inevitable disaster all through the campaign, waiting for the other shoe to drop and reality to kick in, for the party's ratings to sink and for someone to stage a coup and install a leader more experienced, more palatable for Joe Farmer on the prairies than Cathy was. 

The reality that had come to kick her in the gut wasn’t the reality she’d expected deep down. It wasn't that she'd doubted Cathy; it was that she'd doubted Canada.

Sitting at campaign headquarters, watching as the polls closed like a slow tide sweeping across Canada from the maritimes to the Gulf Islands, riding after riding voting in their favour, Diane had felt a moment of coldness when their analysts began to talk about calling it. If Cathy won she'd be some kind of First Lady and everything about their lives would be on display like never before. She’d thought the weeks leading up to it had been bad enough, having to take a leave of absence and hand over her pet project to a younger colleague to join Cathy on the campaign trail, sneaking away to take work calls when she should have been playing her part.

The party had won - Cathy had won - and Diane had been there and had kissed her and known that it would be the lead photo on every newspaper, every news website across Canada and around the world. The battle had been harder to fight for Cathy than it would have been for a straight man: it made the victory a little sweeter and the future a little more scary.

Now, Diane kisses her nose. "I'm glad it's you," she says, even though she’s still shit scared, inside, of how an awkward engineer is supposed to mix and mingle with foreign heads of state. And _royalty._ And real people with real problems, who'd think that Diane was somehow more approachable than Cathy, would take up their causes, would be able to _help_.

"Are you?"

"If I didn't think you were Prime Minister material I wouldn't have married you."

"I don't remember that being in our vows."

"It was in mine. In my head."

Cathy laughs then, which comes as a relief. "Did you ever think this would happen? Really?"

"No," Diane says, honestly, because it’s not the first time they've had this conversation and Cathy won’t be surprised. "I wasn't sure..."

"If Canada was ready for a lesbian Prime Minister in a same sex marriage?"

"No, if Canada was ready for a whirlwind, for - for you. For everything you are. You're so lucky Scrimmage's didn't keep disciplinary records or someone would have got their hands on them and your… _escapades_ would be all over the media.”

"I'm so lucky Scrimmage didn't go in for much in the way of discipline at all. I know."

"She's coming today, isn't she?"

“Yes. And bringing the Fish, I believe."

"Oh gosh." Diane closes her eyes for a moment. Bruno and Boots would be there as well, personally invited by Cathy on the grounds of them having been very influential people during what she liked to call her younger and more vulnerable years. Bruno and Boots _and_ the Fish; either it would be horrible because they were all on their best behaviour and trying too hard to be what they weren’t, or someone would be letting off stink bombs in the front row, _entirely_ by accident because that was how these things always happened. Planning for things to go one way had always been a sure way to make them veer off in completely the wrong direction. 

"It'll be okay. I'm glad to have people there who are on my side."

Diane’s not entirely convinced about the Fish; she was pretty sure he'd have been happy to have never seen Cathy again three minutes after he first met her and hadn't entirely changed his mind despite all her efforts over the years to save the Hall. After all, Bruno and Boots without Cathy - or Cathy and Diane, if she’s going to be honest - would likely have been a lot less volatile, and his life would have been a lot easier. ” _I’m_ on your side."

Cathy smiles. "I know. I don't know why."

"I think we married each other, you idiot. Remember that?"

"You can't call me an idiot. I'm the Prime Minister-elect."

"That's cheating. You can't pull rank like that."

"I don't see why not."

"I do. Because I don't care whether you're the Prime Minister or not. I mean, I do, but..." Diane closes her eyes again, trying to remember the way things had been their grade 12 year at Scrimmage’s. Kissing behind the lacrosse nets and in the bubble therapy room, sneaking away from yoga to cuddle and keeping each other awake half the night. She'd been in love with Cathy since day one, apparently, and no amount of effort to hide it, to pay attention to Boots instead because she'd been half convinced Cathy and Bruno were _destined to be together_ and that meant that she and Boots should get together (an idea which was hilarious in retrospect), had done anything to change the way she felt or, it had turned out, the way Cathy felt about her - 

Her thoughts getting away from her, Diane swallows and remembers what she’s supposed to be thinking about. "I don't care if you're the Prime Minister. I just care about you being Cathy."

Cathy shifts closer, leaning her forehead against Diane's the way she'd done so many times that first year together. She’s wearing her favourite pajamas, which are bright purple and covered in rainbows, and her hair’s a mess because she hadn’t braided it before they fell into bed, and she looks at once like the girl Diane fell in love with and the woman who’s going to run the country. ”Who else would I be?” she asks, her voice soft and almost sounding as though she thinks Diane’s losing it. "As long as you're here, how can I be anyone else?"

Diane kisses her. "Well, I hope you're someone organized enough to have a lot of coffee on hand when we get up. We're going to need it."


End file.
